The company is called Northern Biomedical Research, and on Tuesday, the City of Muskegon sold the former West Shoreline Correctional Facility site to Biomedical for $40 million.
According to its website, the company conducts medical testing on non-human primates, dogs, rodents, pigs and sheep in the hopes of finding “treatment of unmet medical needs."
And while city officials say, the expansion of Northern Biomedical would bring 70 high paying jobs to Muskegon and hundreds of thousands of dollars in property tax with it, not everyone thinks it’s a win for the Lakeshore.
“What I have been telling people who are upset about this is, whether or not we can stop the sale of this, we need to hold them accountable and let them know we are watching.”
That is Hannah Hilborn, who has started a citizen-led Facebook group in opposition to the sale that has been growing by 100 Muskegon County residents a day. She says, it’s not just the animal testing the group takes issue with—she says the city purposefully tried to sweep the sale under the rug, by burying it on page 113 of the City’s agenda…
“There is a lack of transparency,” Hilborn said. “And that is not the way things usually go, especially with a hot topic, (like this one.”)
Not true, says City Manager Frank Peterson.
“This item was on two consecutive city commission agendas,” Peterson said. “And the land transaction took place the way all other city land transactions take place,” he said.
In the meantime, the city has agreed to hear their groups arguments on February the 8th. The group says it will be protesting outside of City Hall everyday until then.
